Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 3 • Number 10 • 2nd June 2003

New EU Constitution Sidesteps Environment?

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The draft of a new EU constitution, which will revamp the governance structure and accommodate the ten members joining in May 2004, was released in late May. The Convention on the Future of Europe — a body comprising EU and accession countries’ heads of state, members of parliament, officials from the European Commission and Parliament and headed by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing — spent 15 months producing the draft, which proposes, inter alia, an elected European president and foreign minister and a legally-binding charter of rights covering issues ranging across labour and social policies. EU members have disagreed over issues such as how deep to integrate, and smaller members have voiced concern that they will loose power in favour of the larger states. Environmental observers, for their part, have warned that environment and sustainable development have been overlooked in the new constitution, which on some accounts represents a step backward. According to Toni Juniper of Friends of the Earth, sustainable development is only referred to in social and economic terms in the new treaty, with environment missing, and environmental protection objectives are granted no higher priority than space exploration. The Aarhus convention on access to environmental information and justice and public participation is also inadequately reflected in the treaty, he adds. A number of sectors, including transport and energy, have not incorporated sufficient sustainability considerations, and the so-called precautionary principle may not be included.

An EU intergovernmental conference comprising all 25 EU governments is scheduled to agree on the final text of the new constitution by the spring of 2004.

“Blueprint for Europe published,” BBC, 26 May 2003; “Europe’s expansion threatens the green agenda,” GUARDIAN WEEKLY, 22-28 May 2003.